Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment(A)
96 Oh, (B)sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the [a]nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
10 Say among the [a]nations, (A)“The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be [b]moved;
(B)He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 (C)Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
(D)Let the sea roar, and [c]all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
(E)He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
Fall of the King of Babylon
3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you (A)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
The (B)golden[a] city ceased!
5 The Lord has broken (C)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
8 (D)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’
9 “Hell(E)[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall (F)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
John the Baptist Beheaded(A)
14 At that time (B)Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” 3 (C)For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 Because John had said to him, (D)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, (E)because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”
9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.